Strange But True
by sodapoppp
Summary: Last chapter - ending. *SOB*! So sad! No surprise though - I always make dramatic endings. :D
1. Default Chapter

Strange But True  
  
by. sweetluvlygurl  
  
Author's Note: The order of the events in the game might be different in this story, cuz I don't really remember. ^_^;; Please R/R! It's brain food for authors..  
  
* - note at the end of chapter  
  
  
  
  
  
"My name is Cloud. This is Tifa, and that's Yuffie."  
  
The dark-haired figure cocked his head at an angle to stare intimidatedly at the young woman and teenager behind Cloud. They shrank back slightly at his piercing gaze - his eyes were a full, stained-glass red.  
  
He seemed to pause for a moment, a strange hesitation,  
  
but after that, "My name is Vincent."  
  
Cloud nodded firmly. Long introductions were never needed for him. "We're after a man named Sephiroth. Did you see him?"  
  
Vincent stared with that haunting, deadened gaze directly with Cloud's mako-blue eyes. Sephiroth. The name striked with clarity, and in a rush brought back memories that were better left alone.  
  
But the name brought another to mind, a name that he hated, that he wondered and had nightmares about all his life, and wished to destroy, if he was still alive.  
  
Hojo.  
  
Vincent took another pause, a long one, and chose his next set of words carefully.  
  
"Is it possible....that maybe...you have room for another?"  
  
Cloud smiled slightly. This man...however suspicious...seemed to be threatless. "Of course."  
  
Yuffie shrieked at this. Predictably, the ninja would shriek out a number of obscene phrases and words and babble on and complain forever about this decision, but Tifa shut her up with a Look, and instantly silenced her.  
  
Cloud held out his hand as a welcome. Vincent stared at it before he did anything, like he always did, and slowly, pulled out a hand from his cloak.  
  
Now both Tifa and Yuffie made a noise, for it was no hand, but a golden claw.  
  
Cloud's face was expressionless. One would make the impression that he was holding back a look of disgust, but his face only flickered for a moment, before taking the claw and shaking it. Then, he looked up to make direct eye contact with Vincent again. He seemed to be reading his mind for a moment.  
  
"..Hojo?" The one word seemed to say everything.  
  
Vincent nodded. This blue-eyed man...he could be trusted.  
  
Back on the airship, Vincent was greeted by everyone. Cid didn't have any problem with him; he seemed to be getting used to all sorts of weirdos on his ship. Barrett was the first to adopt the nickname: "vampire freak", but Yuffie later translated it to 'Vampy'. Cait Sith didn't have much to say to the man, other than "You look kind of familiar..." Vincent arched an eyebrow, for he had never met such a person/thing like Cait Sith before, but the cat turned away, mumbling "If you just cut the hair a bit.."*  
  
Vincent didn't like hanging around his semi-'friends' too much. If you stood still too long, they would begin mindless chatting and pop subjects from nowhere. The only creature that he didn't mind talking to at all was Red. The creature was obviously wise beyond his years, and every time Vincent heard a word from his mouth, it was very insightful and always helpful.  
  
But after meeting all his new allies, he decided to go down under the deck. There, he leaned against the railing, taking in everything that had suddenly happened in 15 minutes. Suddenly he was tapped on the back.  
  
"I don't think you've met me yet." Bright, green eyes, thick and long brown hair braided back, and a pink bow. She smiled up at him - she came up to slightly below his shoulders. "May I join you?" Vincent nodded, and she leaned against the railing also. "Cloud told me your name, Vincent. I'm Aerith."  
  
Vincent nodded. Aerith looked 'round and then at him. "You don't smile much, do you?" He was taken back by this question for some reason. "...No, I guess not."  
  
Aerith nodded, and turned her head forward, smiling all the way. "Well, my friends and I will try to change that, from now on."  
  
Vincent stared curiously at Aerith. Now, when he thought about it weeks later, after her death, he regretted not talking to her more. She seemed to enjoy mindless chatter like the rest of them, and was almost as immature as Yuffie sometimes (ALMOST), but her words were wise, but not like Red's. It was a relief and refreshment, to drink down her words of encouragement, hope, adventure...  
  
Funny, though. She wasn't the one that brought the first smile to his face in years. It was the bratty ninja from Wutai, Yuffie Kisaragi.  
  
  
  
They all sat around the campfire at Cosmo Canyon. Cloud and Red were quietly discussing battle tactics and what their next move should be. Everyone else was in their own world, absorbed in their thoughts and the licking flames in the center.  
  
Cloud stood up now. "We're going to try to reach the Temple of Ancients, guys. Anyone oppose to that?"  
  
Silence, and then..."I am not opposing, but I believe I'll set out after tonight to Midgar."  
  
"Back to Midgar?" Cloud was surprised.  
  
"Yes. I have unfinished business left to take care of."  
  
Nobody said anything for a moment, but Aerith jumped up. "Vincent! You can't blame yourself for what Hojo did! It wasn't your fault, and you shouldn't think like that anymore! Don't leave now, to go after him!"  
  
There was a shocked silence, with Vincent glaring at Aerith so intensely she sat back down again. "But it is. And you'd be wise never to have this outburst and shout out my privacy so loud ever again. This my business, and only mine alone."  
  
With that, Vincent turned and strode off, making a big 'swishy' noise with his long red cape. Everybody sat, stunned at the whole suddenness of it. Aerith made a small noise. "I was just...trying to help." She squeaked.  
  
Yuffie couldn't sleep. She went out from her room in the Inn, and went out to the little balcony outside. She was surprised to see Tifa already there, looking at the stars. "Hey, Yuffie." She turned and gave a small smile. Yuffie returned it. "Hi. What're you doing up?"  
  
"Probably doing the same thing that you were planning to do. C'mon, join me. Stars are really bright here at Cosmo Canyon."  
  
Yuffie found it extremely comforting, to stand in silence next to the older, more mature woman. It gave her the feeling that she was maturing a little bit somehow.  
  
"Weird, what happened tonight with Vincent, huh?" That was Tifa.  
  
"Yeah. I mean, he's probably gone by now..." Yuffie trailed off and returned her intent gaze on the stars. Tifa turned and grinned at the younger girl. "You want to follow him, don't you?"  
  
"What??" Yuffie exclaimed. "Are you kidding??"  
  
Tifa gave her this 'You-Can't-Fool-Me' look. "Yuffie, I have experience in this sort of thing. You...have a crush on him, no?"  
  
Yuffie sighed. "Is it really that obvious?"  
  
"No, probably not. But you know, you call him 'Vinnie' and whine to HIM the most out of all of us, and I swear that 'Vinnie' smiled once while you were complaining to Cloud that his spikes were in your way when you were trying to watch that chocobo race."  
  
Yuffie grinned too now. "It is obvious, isn't it?"  
  
"Well, to me, anyways." Tifa and Yuffie both laughed a little. Yuffie gave a sideways-glance at Tifa. "But it's even more obvious about you and Cloud."  
  
Tifa blushed. "Yuffie, you make it sound like we're an item." Yuffie teased, "Aren't you?"  
  
"Of course not. You see Cloud and Aerith together, you know what they are."  
  
Yuffie nodded. "Well, I know Aerith likes Cloud, and he's kind of just clueless right now about everything..but I know that he'll realize, sooner or later, there's his best friend standing in front of him, waving her arms in his face."  
  
Tifa laughed softly. "You know, as strange as this sounds to me, coming from you - amazingly - it means a lot."  
  
"Glad to know I could help." Yuffie chimed, and the two giggled, as if there wasn't a planet crisis, they weren't heroes and they weren't on a quest; they were just giggling about small things, like two normal girls their age.  
  
  
  
TBC  
  
"If you just cut the hair a bit.."* - Cait Sith A.K.A. Reeve is referring to Vincent's former job as a Turk, and back then Vincent got hair cuts, so his hair was short. ^_6  
  
I'm guessing that since Reeve's such an old fart he should've been around back then, rite?  
  
This REALLY doesn't sound like a Yuffentine yet, but it WILL be, I assure you! 


	2. A Strange Dream

Strange But True  
  
by ME (sorry, feeling kind of like a lazy bum rite now)  
  
  
  
A/N: This is like a story that I wrote a loooong time ago, like two years ago? and I finished it with a reaaaally sappy n' sweet ending, but at that time I had never heard of Fanfiction.net, or a decent place to put up my work. Now I came back to this storyline, even though the original file is long gone, and changed some things, but the ending, I will attempt to make the same as possible. I swear, though, it was a reeeeeeeeeally sappy ending!  
  
  
  
Yuffie stepped off from the ship and looked around at the city. Junon. It was pretty polluted, but not as badly as Midgar. She waved farewell to the friendly crew members, and walked on to the inn. There, she dropped 250 GP ("Frickin' rip-off," she muttered past the hairy-armed inn-keeper) and threw herself on the smelly bed.  
  
She had been traveling - walking nonstop - from Cosmo Canyon since dawn. It was now midday. Tired, her thoughts drifted towards what had kept her feet going all day...  
  
Vincent...  
  
(Wonder where he is right now.......)  
  
(....am I an idiot, for trying to follow him?)  
  
  
  
Back at Cosmo Canyon......  
  
  
  
"Everybody ready?" Cloud called out.  
  
There was a shriek from the upstairs of the inn. Concerned, Cloud was about to rush up the stairs until Tifa practically threw herself down them, and fell face-flat.  
  
"Tifa!" Aerith squeaked, and everybody cringed at the thud Tifa made.  
  
Cloud, knowing that his best friend was not normally this clumsy, helped her up.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"It's Yuffie!" Tifa nearly shouted. The innkeeper's daughter stared at her, so she blushed and lowered her voice. "Yuffie's gone after Vincent!"  
  
"Wha?"  
  
Aerith clapsed her hands together, her eyes growing misty, romantic that she was. "I always knew how perfect they were for eachother.."  
  
Everyone chuckled at this, but Cloud was amazed at this juicy info. "Yuffie?" He choked. "And - VINCENT? Are you serious?"  
  
"Of course, Cloud! Everybody's known for a while now, you know!" Aerith winked at Tifa. "You really need to pay attention to things, Cloud." Tifa, Aerith, and the rest all walked out of the inn, leaving a very confused and fustrated Cloud. "Why am I always the last to know everything?" He shook his head.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
"I'm so happy for you, Yuffie!" Shake, Yuffie's long-time rival, was currently misty-eyed, single at 20, and blowing her nose. Yuffie tossed her long hair about, smiling smugly. "I know!" Chekhov squealed.* "I mean, look at the size of that ROCK!"  
  
Yuffie raised her delicate hand to show off a giant diamond the size of a miniature bottle-cap.  
  
Dimly, they heard the wedding music begin from the other room. "Ooh, that's the cue!" They ran off to get seats. Yuffie watched as first, Tifa and Cloud's daughter, Clarissa, walked through the big doors in a cute little pink dress, spraying the floor with flower petals. Then Tifa and Cloud came, smiling, hooked in arm-and-arm, to go next. Before they did, Cloud kissed Yuffie's hand. "Once again, Yuffie, thank you, for hooking me and Tifa up."  
  
Yuffie laughed graciously. "Oh, no, it wasn't anything." Cloud looked seriously into her eyes though. "But Yuffie, truly. I mean, if I had never met Tifa, I think I would've instantly fallen in love with those enchanting eyes of yours...if only Vincent didn't get to you first.."  
  
Tifa cleared her throat, and Cloud blinked as if just waking up from a dream. "Oh, right! Let's go, sweetie." They also disappeared through the doors. Aerith came up, hooked up with Yue from CardCaptor Sakura.* She winked at Yuffie and also disappeared. Yuffie took a deep breath, and Cid came out, grumbling. Yuffie arched an eye-brow at him, for he was wearing tails. "Don't you dare say a word about what I'm wearing." He grumbled. Yuffie took a deep breath to hold back her snickers. Godo had died 3 years ago, and Yuffie was sad, but she had chosen Cid, an odd choice, but to Yuffie, at least, he was the most father-like figure in her life. Which must mean Godo must've been a pretty bad father to be worse than Cid.  
  
They walked together, hooked in arms, through the doors. Everybody instantly sighed happily when they saw Yuffie, beaming in white from head to toe, with flowers gracing her head. And then they saw Cid, and started to snicker a teeny bit.  
  
Yuffie went up to Vincent, who was handsome and tall in his tux. They stared into eachothers' eyes while the priest bored them with all the wedding blah, and finally, came the part they'd been eagerly awaiting for.  
  
"Blablablablabla?"  
  
"I do."  
  
"And do you, Yuffie, take Vincent to be your husband, to blablablablablah?"  
  
Yuffie tilt back her head, the old mischevious glimmer in her eyes that still hadn't left, not for years. "Hell yes!" She proclaimed, and there were chuckles, along with a disapproving glance from the priest. "Then I pronounce you husband and wife." To Vincent, he said, "Good luck with her. And..oh! -You may kiss the bride."  
  
With that, Vincent put an arm around Yuffie's slim waist, tilted her back, and made out right before all of Wutai and more.  
  
Suddenly, there was a scream, and shouts. Cloud had suddenly started to fight his way past the crowd, looking mad. "No! No! Yuffie's so beautiful! I can't let Vincent have her!"  
  
Yuffie was shocked. Vincent did his absolutely-positively-adorable- arch-of-the-eyebrow-that-no-one-can-imitate and took out his rifle and expertly, with one bullet, shot at Cloud, who fell down. "Oh, Vinnie, my hero!" Yuffie cried out passionately, and they started making out again, and everybody clapped, nobody paying attention to the dead Cloud.  
  
//Back to Reality...// (o.O;;  
  
  
  
"Mmm....dat wasth a nicthe dweam..." Yuffie mumbled to her pillow.  
  
There was a knock on the door. Yuffie groaned at the noise, and slowly got up to open the door. There, was the innkeeper's gross-looking wife, who had in her hands a tray that had breakfast on it. After Yuffie had devoured the meal, she took a quick, cold shower, changed, and sped out of the inn, hoping to make even more progress than yesterday. She sped up when she left the inn, breaking out into a run, when suddenly she collided with a big, tall, solid figure that didn't fall back at all. Instead, she bounced back, falling on her bum. "Ow!" She fell back, rubbing her butt, and glaring/squinting at the tall figure above her, for the sun was shining on her face. It took a split second before the glare turned into a nervous, semi-innocent look. Looking down on her was Vinnie, Vampy, Vamps, Vincent, or right now, angry.  
  
(OH crap oh crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap  
  
crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap  
  
crapcrapcrap..)  
  
  
  
-TBC-  
  
* - Is Shake a girl? Is Chekov a girl? I can never tell.  
  
* - Heheh. I love Yue. He's so damn...hot!! Well, okay, the long toenails scare me, but other than that...he's so kawaii!! I used to be an Aerith/Cloud fanatic. Now I'm a Tifa/Cloud fanatic. Who knows? Maybe next week I'll be a Tifa/Barret fanatic...though the idea is very disturbing...*shudder* 


	3. Vinnie's So Cruel

Strange But True  
  
Chapter 3  
  
  
  
"Number nineteen, you must not speak or open your mouth at all when traveling if the atmosphere seems too silent for you."  
  
Yuffie and Vincent were walking through Junon; Vincent leading, and Yuffie brooding behind him. "Number twenty, if I say something, it does not need any commenting back unless I specifically say your name."  
  
"Yeah, right, uh, Vinny?"  
  
"Remember numbers three and one: you can not ask for permission to talk unless it is very urgent, and you MAY NOT call me Vinny."  
  
Yuffie fell silent again, yet there was a glowering look on her face. (If I had known Vinnie would be such a party pooper, I wouldn't have followed anyways.)  
  
Yes, when Yuffie had ran into Vincent, he was not happy. He asked her if she was following him, and Yuffie cheerily said, "Yes!" This did not go well with Vincent.  
  
When he asked why, Yuffie plainly shrugged, and said, "Uh...I dunno. Just feel like it, I guess."  
  
Well, Vincent wasn't up to it. He couldn't stand the thought of traveling with Avalanche's most annoying, immature ninja. But while he stood there, observing Yuffie quietly and carefully, while she was looking around, obviously bored and impatient for Vincent to say something, he thought of what the outcomes were. If he said no, she'd probably kick and scream until he said yes. If he still said no, she'd sullenly leave, but not before she would pull off a stunt and run off with some Gil and materia. If he said yes, she'd be content, of course, but think of the horrible long hours ahead of them? He closed his eyes, shuddering. Yuffie was staring at him curiously. (Wonder what he's thinkin' about.) She interrupted his train of thought with a, "So........can I?"  
  
Vincent really didn't know what he was in for. Nor did he care. "Fine. Whatever."  
  
"YAAAAAAAAAY!!" Yuffie gave a bear hug to Vincent (even if she was a mouse compared to him) and for a girl so scrawny, she had the grip and hold of Barret, maybe stronger. "We're gonna have a blast, right Vinnie?!"  
  
That had been where Rule Number One: 'You may NOT, under any circumstances, call me Vinnie' had originated from.  
  
So here they were, walking along the road, a sulky silence settling around them, a relief and welcome to every rock and tree and animal from Yuffie's annoying babbling.  
  
Yuffie was dying for idle chit-chat. It came naturally to her - afterall, she was a teenager. And at 16, too - the peak of chatter. But, because of the dreaded, evil Sacred Rules and Code of Vincent Valentine, it was impossible.  
  
(The guy's so stingy sometimes.) She looked at the towering red- cloaked figure in front of her. (I wonder what happened to him, all those years ago...) Honestly, to give Yuffie some credit, she was concerned. It was obvious that he never recovered from the incident, and probably would never. (That is, without the help of Yuffie Kisaragi, great explorer and materia-extraordinaire!) She grinned sneakily to herself.  
  
Although she hadn't quite exactly gotten all the fine points of her plan together yet, she knew her main goal: Get Vinnie over that Lucy girl. Or was it CC? No..Lucia? Oh, yeah, it was Lucrecia! That's it.  
  
(How could she have chosen HOJO instead of Vincent? I mean, geez! Talk about bad taste! If I were in HER shoes, I'd say, screw Hojo! I'm going with Vincent! He's so hot, I bet he looks SO damn..)  
  
She realized where she was heading, and blushed to herself, looking around, as if worried that some unknown being had heard her less-than-pure thoughts.  
  
Actually, it was true. Some unknown, spiritual being HAD heard her thoughts.  
  
(Teenagers..I swear, all of them are so confusing, its puberty-o- mania around them 24/7..)  
  
Dusk had settled in, and the sky was rapidly getting darker each minute. Vincent stopped walking abruptly, which made Yuffie bump into him. "We'll set up camp here."  
  
He said shortly. He threw down a sleeping bag. Yuffie looked warily around their surroundings - Vincent had chosen the middle of a clear, empty road. "Um...Vincent?"  
  
"Is this urgent?" He asked.  
  
"Well...that depends. Don't you think this spot is a bit too revealing? I mean, what if there are thieves and bandits around here - "  
  
"Yuffie, I think you forgot you ARE a thief."  
  
Yuffie stopped talking and shut up, though she was hurt by Vincent's bluntness. Sure she was younger, more immature and all that than Tif and Aerith, but that didn't mean she didn't have feelings, did it?  
  
She also threw down a sleeping bag. She went through her little knapsack, and Vincent looked at her sleeping bag. Although he was known for a non-existant sense of humor, he worked very hard to hold back his smile. While Vincent's sleeping bag was plain and black, the smaller one next to it was a bright, bright pink, with flowers on it.  
  
Somehow, he thought it represented Yuffie perfectly in every way.  
  
"Vincent?"  
  
He sighed, realizing rule number three would never go down.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I...uh...need to...um, well, go. As in, to the little girl's room."  
  
"Yuffie, I know there are portable sleeping bags, portable tents, but there's no such thing as a portable porter-potty that I can carry around in my inventory."  
  
Yuffie pouted. "But I have to goooooo."  
  
"Then go into the trees, go on. Nobody's going to peek except some racoons and squirrels."  
  
"Eeeeeeeew. Into the trees?"  
  
"Fine. Then hide in a bush."  
  
"VINCENT!"  
  
"Hey, if you want to pee in your sleeping bag, fine by me. Just sleep at least five feet away from me, okay?"  
  
(I never knew Vince could be so cruel!)  
  
Grumbling, she walked away over the fence that seperated the road from the trees and grass, tripping along the way over a rock. Vincent chuckled quietly to himself; he couldn't help it.*  
  
Five minutes later, he heard some noise, another "Oof!" from a particularily mean rock, and Yuffie fell off the fence, rubbing her sore bottom. If he was amused, Vincent masked any expression from it.  
  
(Well. At least I know this trip's going to be interesting.)  
  
  
  
TBC  
  
  
  
* - Vincent chuckled? Yeah, yeah, I know, OOC. And I think this is the most Vincent has ever spoken straight through in my stories!  
  
Did you like it? Did you like it?? I hope you did. Comin' up, Chapter 4! 


	4. Vinnie Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi, th...

Strange But True  
  
Chapter 4  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank Quinctia for correcting me. I'm angry at myself for not catching that part about the hand thing. We'll just have to pretend Vinnie's a leftie when shaking. ^_^ However, as I said in the very first chapter, my timing and game sequencing will probably be a little off, cuz I haven't played it for a while. Okay, not a little off - REALLY screwed up. You're really going to raise an eyebrow in this chapter - the sequencing is just so messed up I'm confused.......even the geography is weird! I have no idea if Costa Del was ever close to Midgar....  
  
  
  
  
  
They were an odd pair of travelers, if you'd seen them. Here was one really tall-but-lean guy with black hair and RED eyes (along with the red cape, red turban, the whole works) who eerily resembled somewhat of a vampire. Next to him, was a bouncy and jumping, scrawny teenager that was asian and REALLY talkative. (A/N: HEY! That describes me, all of it! Weird...o_O I guess Yuffie and I ARE alike!)  
  
By now they were nearing Costa Del. Vincent was actually getting very hot in his big cape. He was sweating under it, but wondered why it was affecting him. Hey, the coffin was probably really stuffy all the time, but Vincent lived at least 20 years through it because it never affected him.  
  
Suddenly a thought came to him.  
  
"Yuffie?"  
  
Yuffie stopped walking in the surprise that Vincent had actually asked for her attention. Happy, and thinking to herself, (No man can ever resist my charms!) she beamed at the man in front of her. "What's up?"  
  
"Have you thought about...well, do you even realize where we're heading?"  
  
"Um...Midgar, right?"  
  
"And you do realize the purpose of this journey is to go after Hojo and kill him?"  
  
"Well.......yeah."  
  
"So have you thought about any possiblity at all that you might be killed?"  
  
"Oh, puh-leez, Hojo's not THAT strong, and he's like 80- something!"  
  
"Yuffie, he may not be in good physical condition, and I realize that you've never been to Midgar, or the Shinra HQ, but damn, it's loaded with everything from robots to an unlimited supply of soldiers."  
  
Vincent was staring hard directly into Yuffie's eyes, scaring her a bit with that serious look on his face. Well, he always looked serious, but for the moment he was looking even more serious. It made her shiver, even if the sun was beating down on the two. But she only shrugged. "So what's your point, Vinnie?"  
  
He didn't even notice that she used the 'forbidden word'. "My point is, are you sure you're going to follow me all the way to Midgar? Because that's where I'm going, and after Costa Del there's no backing out."  
  
(Does he want to get rid of me? No, he's being really serious...but..for the sake of love! Man, can I sound corny or WHAT?)  
  
"Yup!"  
  
Vincent shrugged also now. "All right. Let's keep moving." Vincent didn't truly mind Yuffie tagging along. Okay, that's a lie, he did mind, but there were good things about having her along. It kept him a sense of humor, or at least a faint trace of it. And it didn't matter if Yuffie was a chipmunk, Barret, Tifa, a bird, or a talking rock for that matter. God knows how lonely it was in that coffin, and Vincent enjoyed somewhat just the feeling of having a companion along, even if it WAS the Wutain ninja.  
  
And it's always a plus to have Yuffie's limitbreaks.  
  
  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Hell, yes! Yuffie's limitbreaks ALWAYS helped me. Except I STILL and probably never will understand why her lvl 1 limitbreak is named after one of my favorite classic movies. (GREASED LIGHTNING!! nananananananah, GREASED LIGHTNING!)  
  
Keep those reviews comin'! They do inspire me, afterall. 


	5. Costa Del

Strange But True  
  
  
  
Chapter 5  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
A/N: Kupo, you have to be my best and nicest reviewer! ^_^ Your reviews always encourage me to write another chapter. I'd just like to say your words are fully appreciated!!!  
  
I accept reviews in all forms of critisism (hopefully helpful ones) and compliments.  
  
This chapter is weird. I think I was a teeny bit high on Trix yogurt. (was on my third cup when i finished this chaper.) I really should be working on my science report, but since it's due on June 3 and I'm 1/4 done with it, I'll get stressed out on June 1.  
  
I know, I'm amazing.  
  
\\|//~*~\\|//  
  
O O  
  
. -- a strange looking boy w/ dimples and a crown,  
  
)_____( sticking out his tongue. I dunno, I have too  
  
( | ) much time on my hands. You tell me.  
  
```  
  
  
  
The moment they stepped in Costa Del soil (sand), Vincent could feel a change in the atmosphere. Yuffie was suddenly on perky-mode, jumping up and down and smiling really big. Even Vincent felt like going on vacation. Who wouldn't? There were a bunch of little kids playing and kicking with a ball, running around. A girl was running with her dog. Young women and men walked around in swimsuits and trunks, having a good time. (Vincent noticed an older man, his eyes gawking at some girls w/ bikinis.)  
  
But what Vincent really noticed was Yuffie's sudden glum expression. Her moods changed easily. But he looked to where Yuffie was staring, and saw a group of teenagers, talking casually and eating popsicles around a food vending cart.  
  
That was the sort of life teenagers had. Did Yuffie want that? Vincent wondered. If she wasn't the daughter of Lord Godo, she probably would've gotten this sort of lifestyle, instead of training to be a ninja.  
  
"Yuffie."  
  
"Hm?" Yuffie turned, her abnormally big eyes looked at him.  
  
Vincent gestured to the teens hanging out some distance away. He noticed that the group was now looking and pointing at them (Vin and Yuf), whispering and snickering at their odd clothes.  
  
"Would you trade all your fighting skills and adventures, your Avalanche friends, for gossip, idle chatter, boyfriends, and shopping?"  
  
It was odd question to ask, and practically dripped with sarcasm and mockery, but Vincent hadn't intended it to sound inconsiderate. Yuffie looked away for a moment.  
  
"Well...I don't know exactly."  
  
Vincent shrugged, uncomfortably aware that Yuffie's jaw was trembling, no longer all energetic. The teenagers that had been pointing at them were walking away to the beach now. "It's no matter. I was just wondering." Vincent said shortly, hoping that would bring back Yuffie to her normal mood. (Why do I always hurt people?) He thought bitterly. "Well..Yuffie, if you want, we can rest here for a day. I had intended this to just be a short stop to restock on items and weapons, but this will be a little vacation."  
  
Yuffie slightly cheered up about this. She grinned at Vincent. "Thanks, Vinny-poo!" She hugged him tightly, and ran off to some store.  
  
Well, the horrible nickname was worth seeing Yuffie all right again, he supposed...  
  
He felt his pockets...uh oh. They were lighter. Vincent guessed about 780 gil. He checked. No, 900 G. Ah well, it wasn't that much, compared to the 7,000 G Cloud spent on his swords.  
  
Vincent went to the inn to reserve two bedrooms. After that, however, he felt kind of lost. It was all very well for Yuffie - she was a social animal. Vincent had nothing to do except polish his gun maybe. He stepped out from the inn and looked around. A young couple was staring at him strangely. No surprise, Vincent always got weird looks. He couldn't help it, though - afterall, he had been an experiment.  
  
Suddenly, that made him remember Lucrecia. Where warm tears should've rushed to his eyes, instead came a burning pain. He had cried himself in sadness so many times about Lucrecia, he could cry no more. He remembered her long, thick brown hair, often pulled back in a braided tail. He often saw her in a white lab coat, but outside of work, she wore simple cotton dresses of pastel colors, that no Midgar woman would ever wear. Lucrecia admitted to him that she had been born in country, actually from Rocket Town. She had obviously brought her clothes with her.  
  
The scary thing was her eyes. They had been a bright, sparkling emerald green. Almost identical to Yuffie's.  
  
"Hey Vin!"  
  
Vincent saw Yuffie come running up to him. It was obvious she had gone off to use the Gil she stole. She was now armed with a cute yellow clear beachbag with hibiscus flowers decorated on it. Inside it was a towel, and her clothes. Yuffie was now wearing a baby green tankini outlined with white; again, hibiscus decorations. On her feet were flip- flops. Currently, new sunglasses were raised on her forehead. (A/N: I KNOW, it's so cute, isn't it? All of that is what I bought last week. You can never be too prepared for summer.)  
  
"Let's go swimming!!"  
  
"I'm afraid I don't have the gear." Vincent said dryly.  
  
"Aw, c'mon Vincent, there's a store right over there!" With that, she dragged Vincent over to go shopping again.  
  
When they stepped out again, Yuffie was very pleased with herself. Probably no one could force Vincent to swim or take off that ridiculously large cloak, but she did. (I deserve a pat on the back!) Yuffie thought triumphantly. Vincent now donned swimtrunks, the color of (just guess) red.  
  
(Dang, he looks HOT without a shirt.) The 16-year old saw a nicely- defined stomach, lean shoulders...Vincent wasn't exactly buff, he was the kind of lean, slick and straight guys. He had muscles alright, (Very nice ones) Yuffie thought, just not bulging rocks like Barret or Cloud.  
  
She blushed at her thoughts. (Why am I even thinking this?? He's 20 + years older than me!!)  
  
Although Vincent was probably around 40, he took the form of 27.  
  
"Wow, am I a miracle-worker or what? I can make people from scary vampire-look-a-likes into hot life guard-look-a-likes all under 10 minutes!! I deserve a pat on the back!" She grinned. "C'mon, Vin-vin! Let's go to the beach!" She dragged him by the arm, while 'Vin-vin' thought up the rule: NO nickname of any kind can be used.  
  
Now that Vincent only donned some swimtrunks, a lot of bikini- wearing women were eyeing him seductively. This would turn on Reno maybe, but not Vincent.  
  
"Hey there." A dark-skinned woman tapped on his shoulder and purred. Vincent chose to ignore this woman; who did she think she was? Vincent disliked when people came on too strongly. He was glad that the few women he did know - Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Shera, etc.. they were very sweet and kind. At least Tifa and Aerith were. (Yuffie could do with some maturing.) Vincent said to himself. (She could also do with friends her own age.) He watched as she chatted with the teens that they had seen when they entered.  
  
The dark-skinned woman was persistant. However, her hubby, an incredibly over-bulging muscle man clad in a speedo (ew) came over, angry.  
  
"What do you think you're doing??" He snarled at Vincent, who calmly wiped the spit off his face. "I wasn't doing anything." Vincent said coldly.  
  
The woman was backing away now behind her hubby. "He was hitting on me!" She said in a frightened voice.  
  
Muscle-man roared like a bear or something. He threw his fist at Vincent. He was too slow, and Vincent easily caught it and twisted it. He then took out his gun, twirled it (It looks so cool when Keanu Reeves does it) and shot at Muscle-man's foot.  
  
Muscle-man screamed (like a girl) in pain. He fell on his tushie, and the woman was kneeling over, cooing to him.  
  
"Vincent!!" Yuffie left her new friends and ran over to see what had happened. She turned pale when she saw that Muscleman's foot was bleeding. "Vin - vincent, we have to go!!"  
  
"What?" Vincent was in a daze.  
  
"We'll get arrested or something for this!! We have to go!!!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him with her out from the beach, past the item shop, past the weapon shop, past the bar, past...  
  
"Wait!!" Yuffie shrieked. "I left my other stuff at the inn!!!" She sprinted towards the inn. Vincent waited for her. 1 minute later, she was running out, until some other muscle-man grabbed her by the wrist. We'll call him Muscleman2, friend of Muscleman.  
  
Muscleman2: Where do you think you're going?!  
  
Yuffie: Let go of me, you freak!!!  
  
Vincent quickly strided to her, but Yuffie had already taken action. She kicked him in the balls and ran for it. Muscleman2 doubled over in the agony, rolling on the floor. "C'mon!!!" She ran out of town, and Vincent followed, this time, not bothering at all to hide his grin.  
  
  
  
A/N: Yes, it was kind of cruel of me to have Vincent shoot the poor guy's toe.  
  
A teeny bit OOC too, cuz I don't think Vincent is normally that mean...  
  
but the hit-the-balls-and-run technique for women always works!! 


	6. Aerith

Strange But True  
  
A/N: Now I KNOW I'm using wrong sequence order. But you know what, that doesn't matter!!!!  
  
  
  
Chapter I-Forget: Aerith  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
"Vinnie!!! Look! I can see Midgar from here!!!!!" Yuffie yelled.  
  
We were on top of a hill. She was right; I could see the dark outline of tall, black skyscrapers and the city lights - there seemed to be a dark cloud looming over all of it. It gave me the chills.  
  
Yuffie seemed to admiring the sight. "Wow," She whispered. "It-it's so...big. And..the lights..they're so flashy. Nothing like Wutai."  
  
I knew what she thought of Wutai. She hated it. She called it a 'backwaters' town that will never get anywhere in life. She had always wanted to go to the city.  
  
But what Yuffie didn't know was that she was wrong. Midgar was horrible. I knew, because I was raised there. It was ridiculous. Horrible, mucky air - no plant life at all. Drugs, drinking, gangs, gun shots - all were plentiful where I was born.  
  
If you went to Da Chao, just breathing the pure, Mako-free air would bring clarity to your brain. It was so peaceful and calm there. Even Rocket Town, country that it was, had gas and fuel and didn't have the purity of Wutai. Someday, I just might move out of my coffin in Nibelheim to live in Wutai. If I survive.  
  
When we were about to resume our walking, all of a sudden the PHS rang.  
  
We stopped, surprised. Then Yuffie picked it up. "Heeeeeeeeello?" She said in a sing-song kind of way. She immediatly stopped that cheery attitude, and her eyes grew wide. "Sh-she's ...gone?" Yuffie trembled. Then suddenly she burst out, bawling.  
  
She handed me the PHS, still crying. I put it up to my ear. I could hear Tifa's voice far away, through the bad reception.  
  
Phbbt. "Vincent?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Is Yuffie alright?"  
  
"She's crying. What's going on?"  
  
" *sigh* Oh, Vincent..Aerith..she..  
  
"..she died."  
  
Suddenly it was very difficult for me to swallow that lump in my throat.  
  
"How?" I somehow managed to keep calm in my voice.  
  
"Sephiroth...he got to her before we could stop him."  
  
Sephiroth? Ah, yes, the silver-haired general. (Lucrecia's son.) I thought to myself angrily. The product of Lucrecia's beauty...and Hojo...  
  
It sickened me. I was silent, and Tifa respected that.  
  
"We'll meet up with you and Yuffie soon at Midgar. Can I talk to Yuffie again?"  
  
I handed the PHS to Yuffie, who took it with a shaking hand.  
  
Tifa must have said something comforting to the teenager, who stopped crying so much and nodded.  
  
When I pocketed the PHS, Yuffie ran up to me and hugged me. I wasn't so surprised - I was used to Yuffie's sudden change of moods. We stood still together for some moments, just to get ourselves together, and remember Aerith, the sweet flower girl.  
  
When we resumed our walking, I asked her what'd Tifa said.  
  
"Just that Aerith's spirit would always watch over all of us." She wrinkled her noise, and I could understand what she was thinking - it was just what a small child would be told. "And," She added, with a grin, "To kick Hojo's ass, if we want to make Aerith happy."  
  
Now I could understand the wisdom of Tifa's words. As if we could understand eachother's thoughts, we each quickened our steps to Midgar. Here we come.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: What a sickeningly short chapter! And so disgustingly out of sequence! And repulsively boring! And revoltingly - okie, I'll stop. 


	7. Showdown

Strange But True  
  
A/N: This story's gonna end soon. That's all..and, uh, I'm really sorry if my out-of-sequence-ness really bugs you. I hope the ending satisfies you, though!  
  
No, wait, that's NOT all, actually! How did you get to the tunnels to fight the Turks? I forgot...........oh well! They're automatically in the tunnels, thanks to my violin/piano/typewriter/soon-to-be-guitarist fingers! Tee hee...I just showed right there, didn't I?  
  
Chapter I-Forget-Again: Showdown ~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yuffie and Vincent ran side-by-side to the tunnels....yeah, and they kept on running. And running. And running. (A/N: Bah! I'm turning this into a Humor fic! Now I'll mess up the whole mood!)  
  
"I can't run anymore!" Yuffie panted, clutching a stitch at her side. However, I, the author, did not say she stopped running. So somehow she is running and clutching the stitch at her side at the same time. The result you get is a kind of hopping/running. Okay, they stopped now. Because here they meet up with the rest of Avalanche. And the Turks. They are on one side and the other, in ready combat position, like the 'West Side and the East Side' movie. Um...forget I said that.  
  
Reno (A/N: my hottie!! *drool*) grinned coyly and swung his rod around, which emitted sparks now. "You can't stop Shinra now. And we're going to make sure of that. " He drawled. Cloud's Mako-blue eyes were furious. "You idiot!" He hissed. "This isn't just about Shinra now! It's about the world...and Sephiroth!" "Sephiroth can be taken care of." Reno replied coolly. "He isn't a god."  
  
"That's what you think.." Cid muttered, crushing his cigarette under his foot. He drew out his javelin. Elena was nervous, however. Here was the entire crew of Avalanche. They were only three Turks. "Reno..we're outnumbered." "I can see that, babe." Reno said dryly. "Look behind you." Elena turned - there were about 20 Shinra soldiers running towards them. She grinned - even though Reno didn't have Tseng's ability to really lead and control the Turks, he still had a great mind (somehow uncorrupted from all his drinking) and good plans. Cloud saw what Elena was looking at. As a leader, he didn't show any sign of fear, only a hesitant blink of the eyes. Yuffie saw them, and shrank back, biting her lip, wishing she was home. Cloud took a deep breath. Yuffie watched him, kind of admiring and amazed. She didn't know how he could be so brave and scared at the same time. And she still had that crush on him. "This is for Aerith." He growled. Everybody else nodded. Yuffie glanced at Tifa to see if she would say anything. Tifa had an expressionless face at the moment - but caught Yuffie looking at her, and winked. Yuffie grinned, and took out her Conformer. Vincent next to her took out that Death Penalty of his. Cloud yelled something close to a war-cry and ran towards the Turks and the soldiers. Tifa sprinted forward to give Elena a taste of an uppercut, but Rude blocked her, cracking his knuckles. Tifa gave a small grin; they would be fighting hand-to-hand. Rude, although you could never see anything behind his eyes, gave the smallest of the small curving upward of his mouth. (A/N: Rude has a crush on Tifa, right? Just checkin'.) Cid swung his javelin widely. Two soldiers were killed at once. Next to him, Red jumped and..well, basically mauled a soldier. Cid made a grossed-out face and turned to his next victims. Cloud was fighting off the soldiers around him, while Reno approached stealthily behind him.  
  
That was when Barret shot at Reno. Reno moved just in time, and the bullet skinned his arm. Barret swore and was kept busy by the soldiers. Reno glared at Barret's back. A perfect chance to finish off the leader had disappeared. He looked around quickly. Only about 5 soldiers were left standing. Reno cursed under his breath and took out a small black gadget from his pocket to call for reinforcements. However, before he breathed out a word, a bullet shot it out of his hands. Reno looked up angrily, expecting bothersome Barret, but it was Vincent. Reno's eyes widened. It was him. Well, he looked a lot like him. The eyes were different. He never had red eyes but the arch was same. Black hair stuck out in odd places from the turban-thing around his head. Same black hair. Same terrifyingly tall height. Reno didn't actually know him in person. He had, however, seen many photos of him, a lot of profiles, and Tseng's description of him. Every time Tseng spoke of him, his voice got low and deep and with a hint of anger and bitterness. "You. You're that ex-Turk." Reno said in his usual lazy city-slang voice. All the Turks had been forced to read up all the files on all of the Avalanche members. They knew every single bit of info that was available about them. They knew about Cid's smoking problem and his grudge against Shinra about the space program, and Yuffie who was only 16 years old and a ninja-in-training, Tifa had a bar named 7th Heaven and was born in Nibelheim, and Vincent. He was an ex-Turk, who disappeared many years ago while on a mission, more likely to be called chore, for Hojo in Nibelheim. Vincent raised an eyebrow. Not many people knew about his past. However, the Turks were bound to know everything about you.  
  
They always did. Reno's vivid green eyes, not bright and big like Yuffie's, but narrow and Mako-infused, were slanted with resentment. "Tseng always talked about you during the few times he actually got drunk with me and Rude." Reno muttered. "You're a traitor, obviously." Vincent's ruby red eyes darkened. Tseng and him had been best friends. Tseng had helped him get a life - become somebody. Reno took this chance to quickly approach and attack Vincent. "VINNY!" A high voice screeched, and jumped onto Reno's back. "What the?" Reno voiced in amazement. Vincent looked too, confused. (Omigawdomigawd please don't kill me!) Yuffie thought to herself, latching onto Reno's back. (WhyamIdoingthisohgawdpleasehelpme!!!) Reno grimaced. He admired the ninja's will. And he never did like picking fights with females - it just didn't seem right. (But, as Tseng always said, and even that spoiled little bratty Rufus, business comes first.) Reno took out his nightstick ready and with his other hand felt for Yuffie's bare abdomen. (Hey!! You PERVERT!) He then proceeded to punch Yuffie in the gut with hia crackling nightstick. Getting electricity (AND a freaking bat!) punched into your stomach is the worst place to get it. Yuffie screamed, and held onto Reno for a few seconds. Then she fell off limply. "Oh god, YUFFIE!" Tifa quickly ran over, never minding Rude. Vincent didn't say anything - he just did something on instinct - he quickly shot at Reno. Because of Vincent's trembling arm, it hit Reno's left arm instead. Reno swore, and looked around. "C'mon, let's go." Elena, Reno, and Rude quickly retreated from them. "You might've won this battle," Reno said softly. "But Shinra's already way ahead of you." With that, he smirked in a painful sort of way, clutching his arm, and they all ran off into the darkness of the tunnel ahead. "Cowards!!" Cloud ran forward and yelled at them, his blade still in hand. "!*#(!&V`! Shinra!" Barret roared, and ran ahead of them without stopping. "Barret!" Cloud looked first at Yuffie, then Tifa, then the rest of the gang. "We have to follow them." Cloud said seriously, but a worried look crossed his bishounen features (A/N: He, he, heh) when he looked at Yuffie again. "This is where I split with you." Vincent said, and everybody stared at him incredously. "I'll take care of Yuffie. " He met with Tifa's motherly concerned look and Cloud's seriousness. "I promise. I have a debt to pay." "It shouldn't be debt. It's not debt. I wish it weren't." Tifa murmered, slowly rising. Cloud put a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon Tif. Let's go; Vinny promised." Vincent's face turned into a scowl as Cloud grinned goofily at him and ran to catch up with everybody.  
  
Vincent knelt down and examined Yuffie. The expression of pain on her face was obvious. "You didn't have to do that, you know." He muttered, gathering Yuffie up and setting her on his back, like she was on a piggy back ride. She slumped over his shoulder while he held her legs. Then, he ran off in the tunnel to the right of the one where the Turks and Avalanche had gone.  
  
A/N: Well, next chapter is going to be REALLY out of sequence. Vincent fights with Hojo and at the same time the rest of Avalanche are fighting Sephiroth in the last battles. ^_^ Kinky, eh? 


	8. Strange...but true.

Strange but True  
  
A/N: ....................................................lalala................I have come to realize it's better to be silent than comment on senseless things or otherwise I'll see that I wrote something bad or stupid or maybe offending and I quickly delete it all and then think, What was the point of wasting that time writing this? And that's exactly what I'm doing now!! ^_^ :D :D :D  
  
BTW, I changed the rating cuz of descriptiveness and mild swearing.  
  
Chapter Geez-I-Forgot-AGAIN: Strange..but True  
  
Vincent could see that the tunnel was to an end. When they came out of the gloomy darkness into light, he saw lots and lots of metal. A staircase was nearby. (A/N: The pillar that held up the Sector plate and was blown up and all that? Yah. Imagine something like that except not so long and tall.) Vincent hesitated, thinking he should probably stay on the ground and move on, until he heard a cackle. An insane, hideous cackle. It came from above, down the stairs.  
  
"Hojo, I'm coming." Vincent hissed. He checked to see if Yuffie was still unconscious. As if sensing Vincent, Yuffie mumbled some nonsense and snuggled closer to a more comfortable position on Vincent's shoulder. She now had a small half- smile on her face, and though Vincent could just barely understand it, it was definite: 'Vinny...' Vincent, who never blushed or rarely looked peturbed..well, moving on.  
  
He climbed the stairs carefully, not to wake up Yuffie. At the same time, he moved like stealth, making sure not to make a sudden noise. He could hear Hojo's babblings and nonsense mutters, and then an occasional, sudden cackle, like a mad scientist creating Frankenstein. "It's too late. Why do they even bother?" Hojo said loudly. He turned, smiling and leering at Vincent, who quickly set Yuffie down in a corner. Hojo just watched Vincent, his lips still curled in that evil way of his. "Sephiroth has accomplished far beyond my wildest dreams." He muttered. "He is the greatest expirement and success that I, or any scientist, has ever made. I estimate it to be nearly impossible to defeat Sephiroth, a God." His eyes were sparkling maliciously as he spoke.  
  
"Cloud is playing his part as a puppet well, also. And he has a whole group of friends he's invited to meet their downfall as well. All the more fun." Vincent's ruby red eyes narrowed, slowly feeling his anger rise. Hojo spread out his arms, in a motion as if embracing the world. "All this," He said. "All of my hard, long years of study, work, tests.." He swept his arm in front of him and closed it into a fist. "It paid off! I damn well earned this - the world think I'm crazy? Mad? Sephiroth is a scholar's dream come true.." He smiled softly. "They're all jealous of me.."  
  
"You're sick." Vincent said in disgust. "I've always known you to be sick." "Of course." Hojo smirked. "I suppose I was a bit over-creative about - er - experimenting with you. I was just unleashing all the ideas I'd ever used or planned to use and put them on you. I suppose I was a bit pleased, attracting such a force and beast like Chaos," said Hojo happily. "But I got bored with you. And locked you up in a coffin like the vampiric creature you had become. You didn't even protest - you were ashamed. Too hideous, you had become, so unhuman like." His smirk grew wider. "Too hideous for Lucrecia to bear to see." Vincent whipped out his Death Penalty, fury and fire burning in his eyes. "Don't you dare talk about Lucrecia." He hissed. "You ruined her." Hojo shrugged carelessly. "It doesn't matter. It's all in the past now. You have a problem with that, Valentine. You can't seem to put the past behind you, no matter what. I, for one, have moved on a long ways since. Lucrecia was merely a tool in my great plan to make a god like Sephiroth." "Shut up!" Vincent pressed the trigger, his hand trembling like mad, and it hit Hojo on the leg. The amazing thing was, he didn't even wince. Indeed, his smile just seemed to widen. "Its funny, really, for me to believe in such mythical things as gods. I'm a scientist, you know. I'm a man who's entire job is about seperating fact from fiction. But," He said, smiling horribly. "They never said it was against the rules to mix fact with fiction."  
  
He seemed to just noticed the wound on his right leg, and it was bleeding, red showing up contrasting against the white pant leg. "Well, would you look at that." He said. "My blood." That was all he said, and he grabbed a needle off from the desk behind him. It was filled with a strange green liquid. Quickly, he injected it into his arm. It made him tremble and groan, and Vincent stepped back, wary and still holding his gun up. "At least.." He groaned. "I have my dignity!" He screamed, and ripped off his lab coat. It was a gruesome sight. Tentacles were protruding out of his arms and legs, ripping through the cloth. Hojo collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. His skin slowly turned a mottled, alien purple, with putrid green spots occasionally somewhere. His arms turned into tentacles, as did his legs, and suddenly he looked like a deformed octopus. His face lifted up, and the white in his eyes had turned green, and tiny tentacles were in his mouth, drooling and moving wildly. (A/N: I'm really sorry if this is too descriptive to you, and if you feel the need to lose your lunch. I made it the grossest I could possibly do, and I'll tell ya, this is nothing compared to 'Saving Private Ryan'. o_O)  
  
He stood up, staggering, and leered. He didn't seem to be able to talk anymore, but it was unneccessary. He just shot a tentacle at Vincent lightning-fast, and Vincent was surprised at the super-human strength it used, tightening around his arm. He used his claw (a useful weapon at times) to chop it off, and Hojo-octo-monster screamed in a strange shrieky roar. He shot more and more tentacles around Vincent, and Vincent only sliced at them with his claw, occasionally shooting at the things when they still wriggled. Then Hojo dashed at him, and was suddenly at his face, wrestling with him, tentacle-to-arms. Vincent got a whiff, and Hojo sure smelled funky. O_o Vincent threw Hojo off, and Hojo backed off, but he shot the biggest, honkerin' tentacle yet, around Vincent's neck, and Vincent choked, slowly turning a faint purple in a different shade than Hojo. He tried to shoot at Hojo, but Hojo snatched the Death Penalty away and threw it to the corner.  
  
A shuriken swung at Hojo's tentacle and cut it off. Hojo shrieked painfully, and Vincent massaged his neck. Yuffie stood diagonally from him, breathing heavily and panting. The shuriken spun and returned to Yuffie like a faithful dog returning to its owner. (A/N: Bad metaphor. Or is personification? Bah, I don't care! Its summer, school starts in late August!) "Y..yuffie." Vincent choked. Yuffie cracked a small grin. "Right there with ya, Vinny." Hojo screamed again and three tentacles shot at Yuffie, twisting around her small body. Yuffie, once again today, was attacked and screamed as they tightened around her and squeezed painfully.  
  
Vincent felt angry. Unmistakenably angry. Hojo was not going to kill another innocent girl, who had nothing to do with this. He felt his human feelings turn animal. Chaos reigned again, roaring like no other beast can do, and hurled itself at Hojo, who cringed as Chaos set himself on attack at him. Hojo tried desperately to get any tentacles at Chaos, but it was no use. Chaos clawed and bit and scratched and hit, and Hojo's human soul - or at least whatever human was left in it - was slowly leaving the mutated body. Somehow, it seemed fitting, for the master's creation to kill his master. Chaos, as always, would be exhausted after this bloodfeast, and collapsed on the ground face forward. The animal features slowly turned back to human ones, the wings seeped back into the skin, but the blood red eyes had stayed the same the whole time. Yuffie slowly got up, wincing at her broken ribs. She crawled to Vincent's side, and rolled him over. Vincent squeezed his eyes shut, his expression painful. She was hesitant, her hand shaking like crazy, as it traced over Vincent's cheek. "V..vinny?" There was no answer. "Are you okay?" She whispered. Again, no answer. "We're gonna be okay, Vinny." She said in a hush. She looked up at the sky, where the sky, although black and scattered with stars, was still reddened. The Meteor. It was approaching, seemingly slow, but fast beyond reason. Yuffie's face was suddenly wet. She had no idea why. The air around them suddenly seemed to be filtered in a green light. "Yuffie..."  
  
Yuffie raised her tear-streaked face in amazement. It was almost..it seemed like..it couldn't be.. "Aeris?" Yuffie croaked, her voice almost gone. There was a giggle, and Aerith seemed to materialize before Yuffie. Aerith was, as always, beautiful and innocent, and perhaps even moreso. She was dressed from head to toe in a white dress. Yuffie almost expected wings, but there were none. Aerith was bedecked in white and jewels, and that was it. Her hair was let loose. Either Yuffie was going crazy, or everything around them turned green. Just pure green, moving and sparkling, just like.. "The Lifestream? Am I dead?" Again, another giggle. "No, Yuffie. I'm sure by now Cloud has nearly beat Sephiroth. He isn't a god, afterall." All this Aerith said calmly. Yuffie stared at Aerith. "Are you.." She said slowly. "Dead?" Aerith grinned. "Yes. I am now part of the Lifestream. I am part of the Planet. And I am also part of the Promised Land." "Why are you here?" Yuffie asked curiously. Aerith sighed. "For many different reasons. Yuffie, do you love Vincent?" Yuffie was surprised at the abruptness of it. "Um..well.." "It's a yes or no question, Yuffie." Aerith said, a little teasingly. "..Yeah. Yes. I do." Yuffie said. Aerith grinned. "Thought so. Well, are you gonna wait, or not?" Yuffie stared. "For what?" "To tell him, dummy!" "Tell him.." "Your feelings, Yuffie, your feelings."  
  
"I..but.."  
  
Aerith smiled softly, but her eyes were hollow and mournful. "Do you think I ever go by a day without regretting not ever telling Cloud? Not that it'd make much of a difference, but at least he'd know..what I felt. And maybe he'd put my feelings somewhere in the back of his heart, to if not treasure it, just to remember me by.." Crystalline drops spilt out of her green eyes. Yuffie stepped forward timidly, and hugged the being called Aerith. "I miss you...we all do.." Yuffie sobbed. Aerith was a brightness - a light that could not be put out or crushed..she had always given them all hope when things were looking down. Aerith smiled down at the girl, who was like 6 inches shorter than her. "Thank you, Yuffie. But tell me, how's Tifa and Cloud's relationship going?" Yuffie stepped back, her forehead creased. "Not going well." She admitted. "Cloud seems hung over you, and Tifa, as always, won't show her real feelings." "You're an observant girl, Yuffie." Aerith laughed. "I suppose I'll have to make things clearer to them one day..because obviously no amount of pushing will make them budge, as I have seen so far." Yuffie stared at Aerith, who looked amused. "Have you been.." "Nobody ever said etheral match-making was against the rules." Aerith winked. "Actually, I did a bit of work between you two as well.." "Aerith!" Yuffie cried out, outraged. Her hands were on her hips. Aerith giggled. "You didn't seem to mind, and neither did Vincent. It's just the matter of making him realize his feelings.." She sighed. "He's very stubborn. Lucrecia is stored in the back of his brain by now, but he's still..you need to tell him, Yuffie. Please?" The light in Aerith's eyes danced pleadingly.  
  
The two green eyes met and locked gazes. Yuffie lowered her eyes slightly, and nodded. Aerith smiled. "Thanks, Yuffie." "For what?" "It takes a lot of pressure off of me. I was worried to think that maybe you two would go through your whole life without ever telling eachother. But the many times you guys have saved eachother's lives..you can feel it. Better now than later, right?" "Right." Aerith hugged the girl one last time. "Will I ever see you again?" Yuffie asked in a small voice. Aerith smiled faintly. "Maybe. You never know." "Aerith.." "Hm?" "Cloud did love you, you know. He really did." Aerith closed her eyes. "Maybe. I think he did. He just might've. And I'll carry the knowledge happily for all eternity."  
  
Everything resumed its normal colour and stature, and Aerith had disappeared. Yuffie knelt down by Vincent once more. She felt for a pulse.  
  
There was none.  
  
"The Meteor approaches..in all its glory.." Sephiroth said in awe. Cloud, panting heavily, with his lip bleeding and numerous other wounds, dragged his Ultima sword up, and dashed at Sephiroth for a final time.  
  
"Oh my god..look.." Elena pointed skywards, where the Meteor, brightly lit in a horrific burning red color, was speeding towards them. Rude's dark sunglasses reflected it in his lenses. Reno had just lit a cigarette, and it fell out of his mouth. "Sh!t.."  
  
"#%@(^!! Tifa, where's Cloud?!?!" Cid shouted. Tifa, looking anxious and extremely worried, yelled back, "He fell in the hole!" She pointed to the pit in the center, deep where green was glowing brightly, filled with Mako. "Damnit! Tifa, look out! Get out of there!" Barret roared. The Mako was rising rapidly, and some erupted out of the pit, and started floating outwards. Tifa shrieked, and scrambled up towards the higher rocks, where Barret and the others already were situated. Barret lent a outstretched hand to Tifa, who grabbed it. Barret, with all his muscles, pulled Tifa up. "Are you okay?" Barret asked breathlessly. Tifa only nodded, tears threatening to spill out of her wine-red eyes. "C- cloud.." She could only say.  
  
  
  
Yuffie took a deep breath, trying to calm down her nerves, which were threatening to hyperventilate or go hysterical. She tried to keep the tears out of her eyes as well. "Vincent.." She whispered, perhaps the first time she'd ever usen his proper name. "Maybe this is kind of a bad time to say this.." She said, her voice cracking with emotion. "But..Aerith told me to go for it." She smiled. Yuffie rested her head on Vincent's chest, which was unmoving. She blinked out tears. It was so hot. The whole factory seemed to be burning, on fire. She glanced up, not taking her head from Vincent's chest. The Meteor seemed so close now. She mumbled into his black shirt, fuzzy but still distinctly clear. "I love you, Vincent Valentine. Always have, always will. Can ya hear me, Valentine? I, Yuffie Kisaragi, like you."  
  
The place was on fire, it was so hot. Actually, all of the center of Midgar seemed to be on fire. Yuffie didn't want to try to escape. The Meteor was so close now, she could feel the heat from the flames. She closed her eyes, and grabbed for Vincent's human hand. "I think that you like me too.." She muttered.  
  
Although Yuffie's eyes were closed, she was blinded by white instead of black. The Meteor had hit, and she closed her senses. Maybe she wouldn't feel it.  
  
  
  
  
  
"I love you.."  
  
  
  
  
  
The End  
  
  
  
A/N: *sniff* I know I'm going to ruin the mood, but I still have to write this anyways. First, I must enter questions in your brain to get you thinking: Was that Vinny or Yuffie who said the last sentence? Dun dun DUN! - Wait, the story's over..um, nev mind. But you know what - this DOES explain the absence of Yuffie and Vincent during the ending of FFVII. I know, i know, it also has to do with them being optional characters, but I like my version of the story better. :D Now, to answer any possible questions of yours: The Meteor hit the heart of Midgar. That is, Shinra Headquarters, or the top of the plates, where all the snobby rich folks lived, and, well, Shinra. Yuffie and Vincent are there. A big question I know all of you have: Are Yuffie and Vinny alive?!?!?! Well......actually, I don't know myself. I hope they're alive. :D I just wrote it in a way that would leave you guessing, in a way that was possible for them to be still alive or dead. JUST like how Squaresoft always does. *evil glare* I HATE Squaresoft's endings..they never finish the story, they just leave you hanging..although FFVIII's ending was pretty complete. I haven't played FFIX, but @!($^*!, FFX's ending was not cool! I mean, it was really sad, but I saw the ending- ending where Tidus is like, curled up in a "rebirth" position. (Where a baby is in the mother's stomach, ready to be born.) And then he uncurls and goes up out of water or something. GRRRRRR!! What does that MEAN!?!?! *cough* Anyways, I hope ya guys enjoyed, and don't hate me so much for ruining all of the order-of-events. I had to mold it to my liking for this story. Actually, I could've done it the same sequence order as the game, but I was too lazy. o_O I didn't want to write through a bunch of events that were not connected to Vinny and Yuf. So, gomen nasai!! :D Do you wanna hear what 'sorry' means in S. Korean? - Me - Yah - Neh. If you are talking to your elder or superior, you'll say - Me - Yah - Neh - Yo. Heheh! Congrats, you just learned some Korean! :D  
  
Toodles! 


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